Buying a home. How exciting is that? Our first home, second home, vacation home, investment property. It never gets old.
What will we buy for furniture? Will I tear down a wall or repaint? How about putting up a fence?
All good questions but these types of questions although exciting aren’t the most important questions to ask when buying a house.
How about these: There is a problem with the house’s deed. What do I do? The house has an unexpected easement-what does this mean? The seller wants to back out of the deal and we are closing in a week- is my deposit at risk? There is an unexpected heir that has come forward and says we cannot buy the house because he is part owner of it- how does this get resolved? My future house has solar panels and a contract with the seller and solar company is involved-how can this affect me if I take ownership with the installed panels?
You are not alone if you don’t know the answers to the above questions but each of these questions can stop a home sale dead in its tracks and cost dearly if you are not well advised and protected.
It’s when these questions arise that the value of a professional, capable and accessible real estate lawyer is realized.
All of us want to save money when making any type of purchase. We search the internet for bargains and try to find it cheaper than any place else but there are some things that getting cheaply comes at a price.
Many see the value in purchasing travel insurance for an expensive trip because they recognize the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.
There are few purchases in life larger than buying a home and only a few people involved can protect us from the peril of making a mistake. A very important one is the real estate lawyer who represents us in the purchase or sale.
A simple Google search using “Home closing issues” will bring many perilous issues that can arise during a real estate transaction that can take years and thousands of dollars to get corrected.
So, when buying a home, save your bargain shopping for the appliances, paint, wall paper and other sexy items but don’t go cheap on your real estate lawyer.
It’s when your home purchase encounters an unexpected problem that you will be glad you did not!